CVE Watchtower

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CVE-2026-98550NVD

Vulnerability Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tipc: reject invalid and unexpected GRP_ACK_MSG to prevent bc_ackers underflow

Commit 48a5fe38772b ("tipc: fix bc_ackers underflow on duplicate
GRP_ACK_MSG") rejected duplicate/stale ACKs in tipc_group_proto_rcv()
by returning early when less_eq(acked, m->bc_acked).

However, that check remains incomplete in two ways:

1. When grp->bc_ackers is zero (e.g. on a quiet group, when replicast
ACKs were not requested, or after all expected members have already
acknowledged), an unexpected GRP_ACK_MSG with acked > m->bc_acked
passes less_eq() and unconditionally decrements grp->bc_ackers.
Because bc_ackers is a u16, this wraps to 65535, causing
tipc_group_bc_cong() to permanently report congestion and blocking
all future group broadcasts on the socket.

2. During an active broadcast round (grp->bc_ackers > 0), the sender
transmits packet S and advances grp->bc_snd_nxt to S + 1. Receivers
increment their expected counter to S + 1 upon consuming packet S,
so the only valid ACK value for the current round is strictly
acked == grp->bc_snd_nxt.

However, tipc_group_update_bc_members() initializes each member's
m->bc_acked to prev = grp->bc_snd_nxt - 1 (S - 1 before increment).
This leaves a 2-sequence gap (S - 1 to S + 1) in sequence space.
An incoming ACK is therefore neither rejected as duplicate nor
prevented from decrementing grp->bc_ackers if an unexpected or stale
value (such as S) is received. A member sending acked = S followed
by acked = S + 1 could decrement grp->bc_ackers twice in the same
round, prematurely clearing bc_ackers or underflowing it.

Fix this by:
- Dropping GRP_ACK_MSG immediately if grp->bc_ackers is zero.
- Requiring acked == grp->bc_snd_nxt and rejecting duplicates where
m->bc_acked == acked. Because replicast broadcast rounds are strictly
sequential, only grp->bc_snd_nxt can be acknowledged, and each member
can acknowledge at most once per round.

Note that a related pre-existing issue in tipc_group_delete_member()
(where grp->bc_ackers decrementing to zero upon member departure does
not restore *grp->open or trigger a socket wakeup) will be addressed
in a separate patch.
Severity Level
HIGH(7.5)
Published Date
Oct 18, 2026
Last Modified
Oct 24, 2026
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation yet
EPSS Score (30-Day)
0.68%Probability
Root Weakness (CWE)
N/A
CVSS v3.1 Base Metrics — Score 7.5 (HIGH)
Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityHigh

Affected & Patched Versions

Affected Versions
Not provided by NVD for this CVE.
Patched Versions
Not provided by NVD for this CVE.
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🎁7-Day Free Trial — Try Pro or Team, no card required.
📧Email Delivery — Threat intel straight to your inbox.
♾️Unlimited Vendors — Track your entire stack.
🚨All New CVEs — Be the first to know.
📈EPSS Spike Alerts — Catch rising risk before it peaks.
🎯Custom EPSS/CVSS — Filter noise, focus on risk.
🛡️Exploit Intel — A 2nd confirmed-exploit signal beyond KEV.
🐙GitHub Issues — Auto-tracked, no duplicates.
📬Weekly Digest — One clean summary, not inbox spam.
🏷️Watchlist Groups — Tag alerts by team (Infra/AppSec/SOC).
💬Webhooks — Slack & Teams integration.
🔀Smart Routing — Critical alerts to one channel, rest to another.
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